Effect of in vitro interferon-beta administration on hepatitis C virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells as a predictive marker of clinical response to interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 10; no. 5; pp. 733 - 736
• Main Authors: Mochizuki, Kaori, Kagawa, Tatehiro, Takashimizu, Shinji, Kawazoe, Kazuya, Kojima, Sei-Ichiro, Nagata, Naruhiko, Nakano, Atsushi, Nishizaki, Yasuhiro, Shiraishi, Koichi, Itakura, Masaru, Watanabe, Norihito, Mine, Tetsuya, Matsuzaki, Shohei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Bohseidai, Isehara 259-1193, Japan 01-03-2004; Baishideng Publishing Group Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Antiviral Agents - administration & dosage; Brief Reports; Drug Resistance, Viral; Female; HCV-RNA; Hepacivirus - drug effects; Hepacivirus - genetics; Hepatitis C, Chronic - drug therapy; Hepatitis C, Chronic - immunology; Hepatitis C, Chronic - virology; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Interferon-beta - administration & dosage; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - virology; Male; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; RNA, Viral - metabolism; 免疫应答; 单个核细胞; 外周血; 干扰素β; 慢性丙型肝炎
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i5.733

AIM:To test whether in vitro incubation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with interferon (IFN) could efficiently decrease hepatitis C virus-RNA (HCV-RNA) amount and to analyze whether this effect was associated with clinical response to IFN.METHODS:Twenty-seven patients with histologically proven chronic hepatitis C were given intravenous administration of 6 million units (MU) IFN-β daily for 6 weeks followed by three times weekly for 20 weeks. PBMC collected before IFN therapy were incubated with IFN-β and HCV-RNA in PMBC was semi-quantitatively determined.RESULTS: Twenty-five patients completed IFN therapy.Eight patients (32%) had sustained loss of serum HCV-RNA with normal serum ALT levels after IFN therapy (complete responders).HCV-RNA in PBMC was detected in all patients,whereas it was not detected in PBMC from healthy subjects.In vitro administration of IFN-β decreased the amount of HCV-RNA in PMBC in 18 patients (72%). Eight of these patients obtained complete response. On the other hand,none of the patients whose HCV-RNA in PBMC did not decrease by IFN-β was complete responders. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the decrease of HCV-RNA amount in PBMC by IFN-β was the only independent predictor for complete response (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:The effect of in vitro IFN-β on HCV in PBMC reflects clinical response and would be taken into account as a predictive marker of IFN therapy for chronic hepatitis C.